A Man of Conviction

Before church this morning I was reading in 1 Kings 17, and verse one is where we first read of God’s man, the prophet Elijah, on the scene before the wicked King Ahab and Jezebel. The first verse and the first words of Elijah the Tishbite are very powerful and they show to us that this man of God was truly convinced of some things…just read verse one:

“And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”

What a man of conviction! Elijah was convinced that 1) God was really real- “As the LORD God of Israel liveth”; 2) He was going to give an account of his daily living to God – “before whom I stand”; and 3) God was All-Sufficient for what lie ahead – “there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word”.

What a great example of what we who name the Precious Name of the Lord Jesus Christ need to be! Oh where are the people of God with conviction? Too many have opinions, but not many convictions. What’s the difference between an opinion and a conviction? Simply put:

OPINIONS – What we hold / CONVICTIONS – What hold us!

What’s holding you today? What so thoroughly convinces you that no matter what you were up against you could not deny it…in fact, you would even give yourself for it? Someone once said, “If you don’t have anything you’d be willing to die for, you may not have anything worth living for!” That sounds like being held to something more than an opinion!

Be a man or a woman of conviction. Remember Elijah, as he stood before the king and his Court, being thoroughly convinced that God was really real, that he would give an account of his life before God, and that God was All-Sufficient for what lie ahead. He was held by those beliefs.

Think of the Apostle Paul who was fully convinced, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39

Be held by God and His Word. We all can have preferences and opinions, but oh how there needs to be more children of God with some firm convictions founded upon God’s Holy Word! Have the Bible build you. Too many times I hear, “Well I think that God…” and then comes some homespun philosophy. Opinions are like noses – most everybody has one! Take what God says about Himself, about Salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, and about our daily holy living, and let it hold you. Be a person of conviction!

The Truth of Hell

A graphic pitcher of what a person may look like in hell or the lake of fire. Hell is no joke. Hell is a place, it is real, and it is the destination of all who reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Pray for the one who’s face you see when you look at this person who is indeed in a state of torment. It will probably be much worse than even this pitcher shows. Pray for souls to be saved, pray that you won’t quit on God and that you can help some soul to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of their sins. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23

This was just sent to me via email by a friend…pretty powerful and a much-needed reminder to us who know and believe the truth of Hell.

“You don’t really believe in a literal, burning fiery place of torment called Hell, do you? ” This type of question and attitude is actually quite prevalent in our country today. I’ve read surveys that state while just 8 out of 10 Americans would agree that there is “some kind of afterlife” , only 3 out of 10 believe there is a Hell that is “an actual place of torment and suffering where a person’s soul goes after death” without God.

There are many skeptics in our country and in this world today who would love for you and me to never preach on, and never tell of, the truth of Hell. But friends, Hell is real. It is a place of real punishment for real people with a real penalty before God! Skeptics just cannot – and will not – accept that.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Greatest Hell-fire and Brimstone Preacher we can know. Out of 162 New Testament references on Hell and eternal judgment, 70 were spoken by Christ. Why did Jesus speak so much on Hell? He knew of the Truth of Hell AND He desired to warn men of Hell because He didn’t want to see anyone go to that awful place! So for the skeptic and the unbeliever, our Lord has given an expert witness on the Truth of Hell. In Luke 16, the Lord Jesus tells of a rich man who went to Hell…and is still there today.

 

Luke 16:22-23, “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; (vs23) And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”

The truth is – Hell is a REAL PLACE!

Skeptics will try to discredit the reality of Hell – but the rich man lives it today!

 

Friend, Hell is a real place for real lost people . Psalm 9:17 says,  “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God”. The rich man didn’t go to Hell because of his wealth…he went to Hell because of his poverty – his spiritual poverty!

 

Hell is a real place of real tears and torment. Luke 16:24 says, “And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” The rich was being tormented – and he still is! His body and tongue still burn; he still desires “just a drop” of cool water; he still longs for mercy – but it’s too late! Someone once said, “For many, Hell is a truth believed too late“.

 

Hell is a real place of real memory.  Luke 16:25, “But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.” Those words…“Son, remember” still ring in the rich man’s ears. I’m told that “we remember everything, but we just can’t recollect everything”. It’s an incredible thought to ponder…everything you hear, feel, see, taste, smell…you’ll record it all! How many people in Hell today heard and rejected Bible messages on Hell and the Gospel…they live with the memories of those words forever.

 

Hell is a real place of real prayer. Luke 16:27-28, “Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: (vs28) For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” The rich man prayed for his 5 brethren! From what we find here from the Lord, you must believe that there are people in Hell praying for others right now!

“Oh, if my wife would only listen…”

“Please…someone go to my family…tell them of the salvation in Jesus, compel them…persuade them to believe…so they won’t ever have to come here!!!”

 

Friend, whether man believes it or not, Hell is a real place – for real lost people – with real tears and torment – where there’s real memory – and real prayer. Skeptics will try and discredit the reality of Hell, but this rich man that the Lord Jesus speaks of still lives it today.

 

For many, Hell is a truth realized and believed too late…

Won’t YOU listen to the Lord and the rich man instead of the skeptic?

 

Lost soul – Please turn from sin and turn to and trust the Lord Jesus Christ to save you from the penalty of your sins – repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for who He is [He's God] and for what He says He can do [wash away your sin debt with His Blood].

Child of God – Hell is real and real people are dying and going there! God sends you to their rescue before they perish…WILL YOU GO?

Eating His Flesh and Drinking His Blood

“Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.” John 6:53-57

WHOA! What’s the Lord Jesus Christ saying here? Unless folks “eat His Flesh” and “drink His Blood” they cannot have eternal life? That’s what He said…but what did He say…let’s have “ears to hear and eyes to see”!

In John chapter six, the Lord Jesus was having a conversation with a great multitude of people. They asked Him a question in vs28, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” They were asking the Lord Jesus about eternal life…how do I know this? By what Jesus said in vs27,29, “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.” (vs29) “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

After they question Him on what He says, Jesus declares that HE IS the Bread of Life!

John 6:30-35, “They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? (vs31) Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. (vs32) Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. (vs33) For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. (vs34) Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. (vs35) And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

The Lord Jesus Christ is the True Bread from Heaven – He’s the Living Bread – He’s the Bread of Life…and He goes on further to explain just what that means and entails – vs51, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

“…came down from Heaven” = Divine

“if any man eat of this bread, he shall live” = Life-Giving and All-sufficient

“for ever” = Eternal

“and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” = Whosoever Will

 

Now the Jews didn’t like what the Lord was saying – vs41, “The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.” So vs51 really threw them for a loop! “The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (vs52). Even some who were following Christ around and learning from Him were offended by what the Lord was saying – vs60-61, “Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? (vs61) When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?”

 

WHAT WAS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST SAYING?

When Jesus spoke of “eating His Flesh” and “drinking His Blood” was He calling for us to be “cannibals“?

 

I was born into a Catholic family and to Catholic church I went. This is what I was taught. For my “salvation” one thing I had to do was eat His flesh and drink His Blood. I was in a belief that got “hung-up” on John 6:51, 53-56.

–This is what we had from the Council of Trent (a Catholic Council): “Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly His body that He was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change in the whole substance [being, essence] of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of His blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation [meaning, 'to change into another substance']. The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist . . .Since they remain for about 15 minutes in the human body after being swallowed, we should spend this time in prayer, thanksgiving, and adoration, and not quickly turn to worldly occupations.”

–Also, we read of the town, Lanciano, Italy, where there are pieces of “human heart flesh” on display. Catholics say that in the year 700, there was a priest in that town that doubted that their sacramental host – wafer – actually turned into the “real presence of the Lord”. So, they say that while this priest was doing the Mass, the bread and the wine actually turned into real flesh and real blood!

THIS IS WHAT I HEARD AND KNEW OF IN CATHOLICISM!

 

THIS IS WHAT THE INSTITUTION OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM SAYS, BUT IS THIS WHAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST SAYS? Let’s search the Scriptures…

 

The ones in John chapter six didn’t “get it”, and neither do many today. God doesn’t call us to be cannibals! They were thinking carnally, and to think and to be carnal means to pertain to the flesh; sensual; opposed to the spiritual” – Again vs60-61, “Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? (vs61) When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?”

 

HERE is what Jesus was saying, and let’s go about this contextually…

1) Vs26-29, “Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. [the Lord is telling them they had the wrong motivation - they were coming to Him for the wrong reason!] (vs27) Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. [Christ is saying, "Stop letting the temporal be your boss!"] (vs28] Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?  [They were asking for eternal life] (vs29) Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” [It is God's work for you to believe - it's not your work for you to believe]

THEY WERE FOCUSED ON THE CARNAL, BUT CHRIST WAS SPEAKING ON THE SPIRITUAL!

 

2) Vs35-36, “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (vs36) But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.”

AGAIN, CHRIST WAS SPEAKING ON THE SPIRITUAL – “BELIEVETH” JESUS SAYS, BUT “BELIEVED NOT” THEY DID!

 

3) Vs40-42, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. (vs41) The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. (vs42) And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?”

AGAIN, CHRIST WAS SPEAKING ON THE SPIRITUAL, BUT THEY WEREN’T THINKING ON THE SPIRITUAL!

 

We see that the whole context of John chapter six is Christ speaking on the Spiritual, and the multitude being carnally minded!

SO: why would the context change in verses 51, 53-56?

Why would Jesus all of the sudden change His context on what He was talking about with them in the whole chapter? These verses MUST ALSO BE in the same context – Christ speaking on the Spiritual!

 

Can’t believe that? Still having a hard time “digesting” it? Well, Jesus makes it “crystal clear” in vs63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” To Christ, it was “Carnal vs. Spiritual”!

 

ONE LAST THING – WHY did the Lord speak in this fashion to the multitude?

Couldn’t the Lord think of a “better way” to say what He wanted to say?

Friends, He knew EXACTLY what He was doing AND He said EXACTLY what He wanted to say!

 

How do I know this? Vs60,64-66, “Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? (vs64) But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. (vs65) And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. (vs66) From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”

 

Many professed to be His disciples, but the Light of the world illumined the Truth in their heart!

(1 Cor 2:14, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”)

 Jesus gave them something that a lost person would stumble over and it showed them who they really were!

 

How did the Lord’s true followers respond? Vs67-69, “Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? (vs68] Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. (vs69) And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” They may not have understood it all, but they “believed and were sure” that Jesus was Christ, the Son of the Living God!

 

So what is the Lord Jesus Christ saying here in John chapter six? Unless folks “eat His Flesh” and “drink His Blood” they cannot have eternal life? No…stop being carnally-minded and start thinking on the spiritual…

 

“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

God the Son does not call us to cannibalism – to eat His Flesh and to drink His Blood - but to trust in the Words He has said about the Work He has done to be saved.

Change

(Note: This IS NOT an endorsement for Obama – He will bring change, but not for the better!)

As you’re probably aware, the title of this post has been used and used and used in great lengths as of late, and I’m sure we won’t stop hearing about it until November! Of course after the election, no matter who wins the nomination, it will most likely be “politics as usual” and “change” will once again just be an overused word…anyway…

I wanted to use this word to describe what I read this morning in my personal time in God’s Word…

Ezekiel 46:9, “…when the people of the land shall come before the LORD in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it.”

When you read verse nine do you notice that folks who came to worship God came in one way and left another way? That really spoke to me in this way: They couldn’t leave the same way they came in! Oh how that ought to be for us in a spiritual sense when we enter into the House of God to worship Him!

We ought to be changed in our church services! Everything we do as we try to worship God in church ought to change us. We ought to submit unto the Holy Spirit as we sing those Scriptural songs and as we listen to the teaching and preaching that’s before us! We ought to come before God every time in His House with the attitude, “Father, I want to know You more; I want to know more of You“. Knowing God more through His Word WILL HAVE a dramatic affect on us that WILL bring about a true change!

Oh dear friends, pray that you would be “conformed into the image of His dear Son”, and that you would be changed to be more like Him every time you are in God’s House. Have your services to God in church be meaningful and desire to heed what He says and do what He wills, and you won’t leave the same way you came in!

“OH, LET ME GET TO CHURCH!!!”

ONLY GOD GIVES US CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!!!